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Vietnamese An Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system was built with the purpose of eliminating the redundant business process and ensuring the data flows smoothly across all functions and departments thus promoting interdepartmental collaboration.
Challenges faced by organisations when implementing ERP systems
ERP has become an integral part of various businesses of all sizes in recent years. Though increasingly popular, there are still challenges when it comes to ERP implementation.
To avoid ERP implementation pitfalls, you need to understand why it happens in the first place. The common issues faced in an ERP project are categorised into two distinct types: business and technical.
Both are equally crucial to the success of the project. In this article, we will discuss the business aspect of the ERP implementation project.
Business issues are mainly people issues
It is important to remember that an ERP project is not an IT project, it is a business change project and it has to be approached from the business end.
Choosing the right people for your project team
An important aspect that leads to the success or failure of any project is the people, who are directly involved in the execution of the project and those who will be affected by it. It is the same with ERP projects. Many organisations failed to acknowledge people's problems.
An ERP plan is not just upgrading your current system, it is also educating your employees about the impact of the new system and managing the resistance that may arise.
Acquiring the right people for the project team plays a vital part. The team can be composed of your best people from every department, those who know the business inside and out. Your vendor and consultant may be of help in terms of technicality but only you know about your organisation.
Read more: CIO of Ferrari talks about their ERP implementation
Obtaining approval from top-level management
You can’t announce the project is a success without the approval from the top-level management and influential personnel. If they cannot see what the project can bring to the company, your project will be dropped before you even begin.
During the process, the project team must also frequently report the progress to these top-tier managers to ensure the project is fully up and running.
Keeping the culture of the organisation in mind
Implementing ERP solution require lots of time, effort and support from both the top management and other employees. Not many people like changes and accept them with open arms, especially those directly affected by this project.
These issues need to be handled delicately with sensibility and genuineness that the change is necessary and it does not change the culture of your company.
Read more: ERP post-implementation: Scaling for future expansion
Business issues are mainly people issues, if managed well, you are already on the right path. What’s left to resolve are the equally important technical issues which will be discussed in our next article.
Please read the 2nd part of this blog to discover common technical issues of ERP implementation.
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